Business leaders brace for G-8, NATO

Execs foresee financial benefits from summits in Chicago, but are taking precautions

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and officials leading the host committee have played down potential problems when discussing the summits, urging Chicagoans to consider what kind of boost they could be to the local economy. John Chikow, president and CEO of the Greater North Michigan Association, said retailers agree with Emanuel's projection that the summits can be good for business in the short and long term.

In conversations about the events, one luxury-goods purveyor on the avenue cited the unexpected pop in spending that occurred when Chinese President Hu Jintao came to town in January of last year, Chikow said.

But many businesses acknowledged they are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.

Security firms have said they are doing work for Chicago businesses in two categories. The first are those that aren't likely to be targets of anti-globalization demonstrators and just want to get their employees to work. The second are the more high-profile corporations, some of which are considering significant boosts to security or arranging to have some employees work from home or branch offices.

"We're going to be open for business, but not everybody will need to be there those days. We're drawing up those contingencies, thinking them through," said Dan DeWaal, first vice president and chief security officer for OCC, formerly known as Options Clearing Corp., a Chicago-based firm that clears stock option and futures transactions. "We'll be watching closely as Metra and CTA issues evolve," DeWaal said.

But not all companies have that option. Hotels and restaurants can't scale back operations and let staff stay out of the central city.

"From our standpoint, it's all-hands-on-deck," said Marc Anderson, director of marketing for the Peninsula Chicago, one of the city's luxury hotels and a likely site for some dignitaries.

For many in the industry, security concerns are mixed with worries about whether the summits, or the news coverage leading up to them, will dampen business levels that week.

"It's good to have all the world leaders — it could be good for business and good for the city," said Kevin Brown, president and CEO of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., whose downtown restaurants include Petterino's, Shaw's Crab House, Joe's and Hub 51.

"But we worry that people who live here or work here will be a little fearful about coming downtown. We hope not."